CVE-2026-23943
mediumpriority · track · 21EPSS 0.007 · 52 %ileDEEURUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-28
Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Compression Bomb) vulnerability in Erlang OTP ssh (ssh_transport modules) allows Denial of Service via Resource Depletion. The SSH transport layer advertises legacy zlib compression by default and inflates attacker-controlled payloads pre-authentication without any size limit, enabling reliable memory exhaustion DoS. Two compression algorithms are affected: * zlib: Activates immediately after key exchange, enabling unauthenticated attacks * zlib@openssh.com: Activates post-authentication, enabling authenticated attacks Each SSH packet can decompress ~255 MB from 256 KB of wire data (1029:1 amplification ratio). Multiple packets can rapidly exhaust available memory, causing OOM kills in memory-constrained environments. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/ssh/src/ssh_transport.erl and program routines ssh_transport:decompress/2, ssh_transport:handle_packet_part/4. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 28.4.1, OTP 27.3.4.9 and OTP 26.2.5.18, corresponding to ssh from 3.0.1 before 5.5.1, 5.2.11.6 and 5.1.4.14.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · low–medium · 2.7–6.9
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (25)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (2)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- WID-SEC-W-2026-0721Erlang/OTP: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-03-12csaf · cert_bundDE
Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Erlang/OTP ausnutzen, um Sicherheitsvorkehrungen zu umgehen, einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand herbeizuführen oder HTTP-Request-Smuggling zu erreichen, was weitere Angriffe ermöglicht.
- EEF-CVE-2026-23943Pre-auth SSH DoS via unbounded zlib inflate2026-03-13vendor · osvUS
## Summary Improper Handling of Highly Compressed Data (Compression Bomb) vulnerability in Erlang OTP ssh (ssh\_transport modules) allows Denial of Service via Resource Depletion. The SSH transport layer advertises legacy zlib compression by default and inflates attacker-controlled payloads pre-authentication without any size limit, enabling reliable memory exhaustion DoS. Two compression algorithms are affected: \* zlib: Activates immediately after key exchange, enabling unauthenticated attacks \* zlib@openssh.com: Activates post-authentication, enabling authenticated attacks Each SSH packet can decompress ~255 MB from 256 KB of wire data (1029:1 amplification ratio). Multiple packets can rapidly exhaust available memory, causing OOM kills in memory-constrained environments. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/ssh/src/ssh\_transport.erl and program routines ssh\_transport:decompress/2, ssh\_transport:handle\_packet\_part/4. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 28.4.1, OTP 27.3.4.9 and OTP 26.2.5.18, corresponding to ssh from 3.0.1 before 5.5.1, 5.2.11.6 and 5.1.4.14. ## Workarounds Best workaround - Disable all compression: {preferred\_algorithms, \[{compression, \['none'\]}\]} Alternative mitigations (less secure): \* Disable only pre-auth zlib compression (authenticated users can still exploit via zlib@openssh.com): {modify\_algorithms, \[{rm, \[{compression, \['zlib'\]}\]}\]} \* Limit concurrent sessions (reduces attack surface but does not prevent exploitation): {max\_sessions, N} % Cap total concurrent sessions (default is infinity) ## Configurations The SSH server or client must advertise zlib or zlib@openssh.com compression. Both are enabled by default. With zlib, the attack is pre-authentication; with zlib@openssh.com, authentication is required first.
also known as (4)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (22)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2026-23943cnnvd
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/0c1c04b191f6ab940e8fcfabce39eb5a8a6440a4cnnvd
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/43a87b949bdff12d629a8c34146711d9da93b1b1cnnvd
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/93073c3bd338c60cd2bae715ce6a1d4ffc1a8fd3cnnvd
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-c836-qprm-jw9rcnnvd
- https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23943cnnvd
- https://www.erlang.org/Patchcnnvd
- https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versionscnnvd
Attackers weaponise vulnerabilities like this against internet-exposed services. See what is exposed on your perimeter with a free passive scan.
Free scan